A very small thought can show how irrational thinking operates.
Recently, I have been putting more salt in food I make. I have some good reasons for this and one bad one.
The bad one wrongly believes that my partner does not at the table salt food I make enough, so I have to use more to counter this.
This thought comprised about 10% of my reason for using more salt when I cooked. This thought was subliminal, meaning it almost never rose to consciousness. And when it did its appearance was fleeting and went unquestioned.
It is a selfish thought or at least not fully considerate. As soon as I examined it I realized it is a dumb thought and discarded it completely.
This thought was wrong and irrational for obvious reasons. But it still had a small effect on my conscious behavior.
I noticed it while washing dishes and watching my mind at the same time.
This thought has an element of reason in how it is constructed: i.e. “because my partner does not do this, I will do this.”
But not much else about it is reasonable. I have no idea how or when this thought formed. Did it form subconsciously or in a dream? I don’t know.
I believe it stayed in my mind as a weak but partially operative “reason” because it is selfish (and thus less likely to be examined) and because it has a reasonable construction when put in words.
American Buddhist Net 